Journal of Economic Literature
ISSN 0022-0515 (Print) | ISSN 2328-8175 (Online)
A Review Essay of The Economics of Structural Racism by Patrick Mason
Journal of Economic Literature
(pp. 1011–37)
Abstract
This essay provides a streamlined presentation of stratification economics (SE) in three pillars and comments on Patrick L. Mason's (2023) book The Economics of Structural Racism: Stratification Economics and US Labor Markets. SE, a field that seeks to understand racism and other social inequalities between ascriptive groups, is characterized by rational, self-interested models of group conflict, where social groups, not individuals, are the fundamental unit of analysis, and where intergenerational transmission of advantage or disadvantage cannot be overlooked. Mason demonstrates how, compared to the dominant alternatives in economics, SE better explains changes in racial inequality over time.Citation
Lefebvre, Stephan. 2025. "A Review Essay of The Economics of Structural Racism by Patrick Mason." Journal of Economic Literature 63 (3): 1011–37. DOI: 10.1257/jel.20241770Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D31 Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions
- D63 Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
- D74 Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
- D91 Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- J71 Labor Discrimination
- N30 Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: General, International, or Comparative